Dark Hearts
by bumblebeeinthetardis
Summary: Avengers/MCU fanfic (pre infinity wars) When a mysterious young girl appears seemingly out of nowhere, the Avengers have no idea what to do with her. All she seems to know is her name; Eris. She appears as ordinary as possible. Maybe a bit odd, but that's probably just her personality. Or is it?
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

_**"Please don't hurt me..."**_

_**"You know I would never."**_

_**"Promise?"**_

_**"I promise, my little Eris."**_

_**"My little Eris..."**_

_**"Eris!"**_

It was a miserably rainy day. Everything in sight was covered in a blanket of dark, thick fog. The sun was apparently going down, as it was getting darker. You'd assume everyone would be inside, enjoying some hot cocoa or coffee. But at the Avengers' tower, everyone was still awake. For you see, approximately thirty minutes ago, the power had gone out on all of the lower floors. Everything was black. You couldn't see a thing. And that was only the beginning of an adventure that has never been told before...

"Hey, Cap!" Natasha Romanoff, the red haired assassin called after her blonde compatriot. "Tony says there's a security breach on the third floor." She and Steve had volunteered to check everything out and make sure all was clear.

"What floor are we on now?" Steve asked. He was already in his pajamas; sweats and a white tee, and was holding a pistol.

"Four. We're closest. Come on." Natasha walked towards the stairs and slowly opened the door to the staircase. "Tony's on the way." She and Steve started down the stairs cautiously and carefully. As they slowly opened the door to the third floor, they heard a crash, as if they'd startled a frightened raccoon. Or human. They darted out and took cover, guns loaded.

"Did you see what it was?" Steve asked Natasha.

"No. But let's not let our guard down."

As the two gradually left their hiding places, they found the source of the crash. A filing cabinet had been thrown through a window. Glass was everywhere. Glass, and a small heap of purple velvet.

With a hand motion or two, Natasha and Steve slowly made their way to the heap of velvet. As they drew closer, it stirred. The two avengers drew their weapons. But Steve lowered his for a moment and approached.

"Steve!" Natasha hissed. "What are you doing."

Steve gave no answer, but slowly pushed over the bundle of fabric to reveal a small, seemingly malnourished, and maybe slightly alive child. A girl, to be exact. Her skin was unhealthily pale and her hair was black.

"Shit." Natasha put her weapon away and commed Tony. "Hey Stark, there's a problem..."

_Darkness_

It was too dark. It was terrifying

_Cold_

It was a little wet, too. Like she was flying through a cloud.

_**CRASH**_

And then fear...

She couldn't wake up.

She couldn't move.

She didn't even know if she was breathing.

Was she dead? No.

Yes.

No.

Maybe.

Voices, dull and throbbing, came to her mind. So much noise. But one word stood out.

**Eris.**

The girl shot up, gasping for air, screaming. She was in the hospital. For how long? She didn't know. A tall man with yellow hair and a shorter guy with dark skin rushed up. Were they her parents? She thought for a moment. No. They didn't seem right. Nothing seemed right. It was like something has changed. But she couldn't remember what. Her heartbeat throbbed in her ears, she heard the two men talking to her, but she couldn't understand. She clutched her head. Another woman with dark skin pushed the men aside and touched her shoulder. She looked at the woman with big, hazel eyes. Fearful eyes. Eyes much older than they should be. After a moment, the pounding subsided. She could slowly began to understand.

"Are you okay?" The woman asked.

She nodded.

The man with yellow hair decided to approach again. "Who are you? What's your name?" He asked slowly.

She shook her head, her black hair waving around as she did. She didn't remember. Everything was wrong. Wrong. Wrong. But then, like a candle in a cave, there was one thing. One word. A name? No. It was her name, and yet it wasn't. She looked up at the yellow haired man and the dark skinned woman.

"I'm called Eris."

DAYUM

that took ages.

Feel free to comment advice.

Also, I DONT OWN ANY OF THESE CHARACTER SORRY.

Except Eris.

\- Acantha


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter two **

"I'm called Eris."

Tony Stark hadn't slept in a week. Not that that was unusual, but it was reasons behind the habit that confused everyone. You see, my dear reader, he hadn't slept because he was obsessed with figuring who on earth was the small child that Natasha and Steve had found. It wasn't easy. In the past week, all he had successfully done was get her moved to the Avengers' mansion (that was a particularly difficult feat, seeing as no one except Clint had kids and therefore had no idea what to do. Not to mention he had to pull a lot of strings ), conducted a DNA test, and had her go through a full check up. The girl, who claimed to be "called Eris", was stressed out by all of these. She remembered nothing except the word "Eris." Whatever that was.

"Hey Tony!" Sam Wilson, also known as the Falcon, walked into the lab. He had done his best to stay out of what he called; "the kid business", but he still managed to ask Tony for a progress report every few hour. Casually, of course. "Find anything?"

"Not much." Tony said in a short, semi annoyed way. "According the the tests the hospitals ran and the backup tests I've run, she looks to be around thirteen years old, but because she's been severely malnourished, it's hard to tell."

"Well shit." Sam scratched his head confusedly. "It's that bad, huh?"

"No, she's just short." Tony replied sarcastically. "Yes, it's "that bad"! It's always been "that bad"! There are no records of her DNA or any DNA even a little like it! She does exist! She's not supposed to, at least."

"Damn..."

"Damn what? By all means, go on!" Tony was now full blown frustrated. "We have a severely malnourished, injured, amnesiac thirteen year old girl who just happened to appear in our building from who knows where! She could be faking her amnesia! She could be a spy! She could be-"

"A scared little kid who was dropped here by stupid people." Sam interrupted. "She looks like she's nine. She'd be scrawny for a nine year old. Look Tony, whoever dropped her here was an idiot. Or they were a genius. But she's here, she's terrified, she needs us."

"Where is she now?"

"Natasha and Steve are watching tv with her. Keeping her calm."

"Good." Tony nodded and went back to work.

In the living room, things were going differently...

"Beauty and the Beast or Cinderella?" Natasha asked Eris; who was sitting crossed legged on the couch.

"What about Barbie?" Steve countered. The two friends had been arguing for twenty minutes. They'd gone to Walmart about an hour ago and had gotten a bunch of kid movies to show Eris.

"Pfft. Come on. Let's show her something with substance."

"Barbie _has _substance. Unlike your choices."

"Unlike my choices?! These are classics!"

"Why don't we play a board game?" Natasha and Steve spun around as Clint walked into the living room.

"How'd you get here?" Steve asked.

"Sam called me. I have kids, I'll handle this." Clint replied quietly. He sat down on the coffee table in front of Eris. "Hi there. I'm Clint. What's your name?" He said to her gently.

"E- Eris." She whispered. She was hugging a pillow, and had wrapped herself in a fuzzy blanket.

"You look scared. What's wrong?" He smiled softly. Dad mode was obviously turn on.

"I don't like open spaces." She curled up tightly.

Clint nodded thoughtfully. Then he leaned in slowly. "Wanna make a blanket fort?" He smiled mischievously.

Twenty minutes, three chairs, five pillows, and ten blankets later, there was an awesome blanket fort in the middle of the living room. Clint and Eris were already inside playing UNO, And Steve and Natasha were getting popcorn and hot cocoa. For the first time since Eris had met them, she was laughing. Happily and healthily. She had already won a game or two of UNO, and even the games she didn't win, she smiled and laughed and applauded the winner.

"Hey Eris?" Steve asked as he sat down. "Want any marshmallows?"

"No, thank you. It makes my coco too sweet." Eris said with a sweet smile.

"How do you know that?" Natasha asked, a little surprised.

"I- I don't know." Eris looked at the ground. "I just do."

"Is there anything else you know like that?" Clint followed up kindly.

"Hmmm." Eris thought hard for a few minutes before beginning slowly in her, soft, childish voice. "I like dark colors. Like midnight blue, burgundy, and dark purple. I don't like pink or red. I like strawberries and cherries, but I don't like apples. I don't like large, bright spaces, but if the space is too dark and small, I get claustrophobia."

"I see." Clint nodded sagely. "Now let's drink our hot coco before it gets cold. Let's watch Cartoon Network!"

A few minutes later, Tony, having been disturbed by the noise, made his way to the living room. He was annoyed again, but he also wanted to check on Eris and make sure she wasn't miserable. After all, he'd kind of kept her mostly in the lab for the first few days. To keep an eye on her.

"What the he-" one strong look from Clint and Natasha shut Tony up as he almost swore. He was shocked at first by the three adults and one child crowding around a portable tv, watching Teen Titans Go. But he recovered quickly. He hunched under the blankets into the fort. "You're having a party without me?!"

"Oops." Eris said quietly. "Sorry Mr Stark."

"Like I said, kid, it's Tony." He ruffled her hair. She hissed quietly, and everyone turned to look at her, shocked. But Tony shrugged. "She does that. I learned that the hard way."

"What hard way?" Eris pointed out. Tony just chuckled.

"Relax, kid. Enjoy your show. I have work to do. If you have any problems, tell someone and they'll take you to the lab." He smiled before turning to the others. "Remember, she's only been out of the hospital a week. And I had to pull some strings to get her out that soon. So don't let her exert herself. And don't stress her out." And with that, He left to the lab. As he walked out, Sam walked up holding a water bottle.

"Woah, Tony's dad mode is fierce." He said. "Hey Steve, I'm heading to the gym, wanna come?"

"Sure." Steve got up, almost knocking the fort over in the process, and managed to get over to Sam. "Let's go." And with a wave to the others, they headed out.

Clint stuck around for a few more hours, but he had to be back to his family. With a hug and a promise to come again, he left.

"And then there were two." Natasha said to Eris. Eris smiled at her and held up a movie. Pride and Prejudice. "Have you been hiding that this entire time?"

Eris shrugged.

"Da- dang." Natasha corrected her language. She took the movie and put the disc in the player.

_**Eris.**_

Eris woke up in and unfamiliar place. She felt ... different. More confident, sly, cunning, and definitely full of mischief. But also afraid. There were people gathered around her, yelling at her. She didn't understand the words. And yet she did. It was confusing. It was like she wasn't in control. Like she was in someone else's mind.

_**Eris. **_

She heard someone say the word again. The scene changed. She was running. From what? From who? Fear was everything around her. And haste.

_**Eris.**_

And suddenly hope. But then pain. Pain. Pain. A deep burning and itching in her bones. She had made a mistake. It was terrible mistake. An unfixable mistake.

"Eris!"

She woke up in a cold sweat, tears running down her cheeks. "Don't let me go back! I made a mistake! What happened to me?!" The words were not hers, and they slipped out of her memory as soon as she said them. It was a trace of the mind she had been in, slipping away.

There was an unfamiliar face above her, a new dark skinned man. He smiled at her. "You alright?" She nodded.

"W- where's Natasha?" Eris asked wiping her tears away. She looked around her. She was still in her blanket fort, but Natasha was gone. She must have fallen asleep. It was almost dawn, and the sky was a dark grey.

"She's probably asleep." The unknown man said. "I'm Rhodey." He smiled kindly. "Do you want something to drink? Cherry juice? Milk and honey?"

"Cherry juice would be nice." She said quietly. "Thank you." She stood and got out of her fort, then followed Rhodey to the kitchen.

"So you're the mystery kid." He commented.

"Huh?"

"Don't worry. It's not a bad thing." Rhodes chuckled. He smiled. "I'm going back to sleep after this, but I can take you down to the Lab. Tony's awake, and you can hangout with him until you're tired again. Or until the others get up."

"That would be nice." Eris smiled back at him. He poured her some cherry juice, and then delivered her down to the lab.

Tony was less than happy to have company, but he didn't turn her away. He let her sit on a table and sip on her cherry juice while he worked. She didn't ask any questions, but just watched him work in comfortable silence. He was working on his suit, making improvements and adjusting this and that. A couple hours later,Tony stopped, and noticing she'd finished her cherry juice and was definitely not asleep, he decided to do the smart thing and get her something to eat and have her go wash up and get dressed.

"Hey kid, come on, let's get some food. I'm starving, how about you?" Tony smiled and helped her off of the bench. Eris nodded, and followed him to the kitchen. "How about pop tarts?" He said then regretted. "Wait, you're... growing... ish. You need protein. I'll fry you an egg. How does that sound?" Eris nodded again and he got out a couple eggs, some salt, and a frying pan. "So I hear you don't like large spaces."

"No. They scare me." She said quietly.

"Agoraphobia, maybe? Interesting." Tony mumbled to himself.

"Hey, um, how many people live here?" Eris asked.

"Huh? In the mansion?" Tony was caught off-guard by the question. "Well there's Romanoff, Rogers, Wanda, Rhodey, Vision, Wilson, me, and a bunch of other people." He said as he sprinkle salt on the eggs in the pan. "You haven't met Wanda or Vision yet, have you?"

"No." Eris shook her head.

"You'll like them." Tony slid the eggs onto two plates and grabbed a couple forks. He slid a plate to Eris and pulled up a seat beside her. "Eat up." They are in silence for a while before Natasha stumbled into the kitchen grumpily to make some coffee. After setting up the percolator, she stumbled out again.

Eris and Tony looked at each other and laughed a little.

"Morning people." Natasha muttered as she walked away.

thank you all for reading!

like comment share.

\- Acantha


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter Three**

"Morning people."

After breakfast, Eris wandered around for a bit, following different people until she got bored and disappeared. Finally, Steve found her, playing solitaire by herself under the dining room table. He realized as he looked at her, that they had neglected something in their hurry to get her back from the hospital. Clothes. Eris was still wearing the white sundress she'd been found in. It was beginning to get rather dirty. And she was already rather dirty. Steve then decided he should do something.

"Hey Eris."

"Hmm?" Her little head shot up, and she smiled, her bright Hazel eyes sparkling.

"Come here. You need to take a bath." He said.

"I smell that bad?" She wrinkled her nose.

"No. You're just dirty." He awkwardly stated.

"Okay..." she walked over to him, and he got her a towel and showed her the bathroom and how it worked. Then, he left her and went to find Natasha. She was in the gym.

"Hey Tash, I need help." He said, walking up.

"Are you asking Shannon out?" She asked quickly.

"What? No. It's about Eris."

"What did you do?"

"We forgot to buy clothes. She's taking a bath right now, but I don't know what to do." Steve shrugged.

"Well, for starters, I'll give her one of my sweaters to wear when she gets out, and then we'll wash her dress." Natasha said. "After her dress is all clean, I'll take her shopping."

"Should I get Wanda and get her to go with you?"

"No. Too many new people at once would stress her out."

"Okay then." Steve nodded.

After what they had discussed was done, Natasha and Eris -who was still wearing Natasha's black hoodie over her dress, rather happily- set out. They went to the nearest mall and -since it was a Tuesday morning in December, it was not busy- shopped around for lovely little things for Eris. It was a success, and they managed to get her several pairs of cute plant patterned socks, a pair of lavender sneakers, a pair of grey ballet flats, a green jacket, a sundress, one black zip up sweater, one llama hoodie, three patterned tee shirts, a pair of jeans, a pair of sweatpants, and a pastel cat covered nightgown. All in all, not bad. After scrounging around a little, they found a ladybug toothbrush and a matching hairbrush. They also bought a bunch of hair ties and clips, and chocolate scented shampoo, and some undergarments and a few extra items.

When they got home, Tony was waiting for them...

"Where were you guys? I was looking for Eris." He said sternly.

"Eris needed clothes. Among other things that you've neglected." Natasha retorted. "What _were _you thinking? Keeping her in a lab for 6 days."

"I needed to make sure she was okay. And not a threat. Although I do regret my actions."

"As usual."

"And besides, I have a surprise for her."

"What is it?" Eris asked.

Tony simply smiled mischievously and beckoned for her to follow him.

"Yeah sure, leave me with the bags." Natasha commented sarcastically. Instantly, Eris shot back and took a couple of bags. Tony grabbed a couple as well, and then led Eris upstairs.

They walked up to a wooden door, one that looked rather out of place in the sleek and modern house. Tony opened it to reveal a cozy and softly lit room. It was painted a dark blue, and had a few antique bookshelves. The bed was a mattress in the corner, but it was covered with layers of fuzzy blankets and thick comforters, and had lots of pillows. It was surrounded with lovely light blue and black chiffon that had fairy lights dangling amongst them. There was a wooden dresser and a white vanity in the opposite corner, and a small roll top desk and rolling chair against the wall by the door.

"How-" Eris stopped. She ran in and jumped on the bed. "I love it!"

Natasha was shocked. "How did you get that finished so quickly?!"

"I had help. And I've been working on it for a few days." Tony shrugged.

"Thanks Tony!" Eris hugged him before taking all of her things. Natasha and Tony looked at each other.

Eris enjoyed the next few hours in her room, putting things away and playing with her pillows. When she was finally called down for dinner, she decided to get dressed in some better clothes than her white dress. She put on a canvas green dress and cactus socks, and braided her hair. After being satisfied with herself, she darted downstairs, only to freeze when she saw a tall man with red and purple skin and a yellow rock in the middle of his forehead in front of her. Poor Vision had no idea what to do, so he waved, only for the child to run and hide behind Tony.

"Did I do something wrong, sir?" Vision asked Tony.

"Eris is just skittish." Tony said, taking her hand and leading her into the kitchen. Vision nodded and went off to tell Wanda that dinner was ready.

"Who was that?" Eris asked.

"Vision. You'll be seeing a lot of him." Tony said.

"Oh. I'm sorry for scaring him."

"Don't worry. He's fine."

Eris nodded again and Tony helped her onto a chair, much to everyone's surprise. They were even more surprised when he got her a plate of mac n cheese and chicken nuggets. Mainly because Tony was being, well, dad like, but also because where the heck had he gotten chicken nuggets and mac n cheese. But regardless, they let Eris eat in peace. After a few more minutes, Wanda and Vision came over. Wanda sat across from Eris and Vision sat beside Wanda.

"So, you are the child found on the third floor?" Vision asked Eris.

"Yes." She replied.

"I am Vision, and this-" he gestured to Wanda. "Is Wanda." He smiled welcomingly.

"Hello." Eris waved. Wanda waved back, but said nothing. Eris awkwardly kept eating after several minutes of awkward silence.

After dinner, Eris got on her nightgown. It was like an extra long oversized tee shirt, and was a pastel purple with cartoon cats all over it. After brushing out her hair again, she brushed her teeth and got into bed. She managed to arrange a nest like formation out of pillows, and pulled the fluffiest blanket bee herself. Almost as soon as she did, she fell into the first dreamless sleep she'd had since she'd woken up in the hospital.

The last thing she remembered before she fell asleep was someone rubbing her shoulder and whispering; "Goodnight, Eris."

so I am actually legitimately surprised that I've been able to update TWICE. LIKE SERIOUSLY. I'm thrilled. Thank you all for supporting me.

-Acantha


End file.
